The XT10 hands down. You can easily spend much more time fiddling
around with the ETX just trying to get it to work right than you would
actually observing. Not so with the dob. Just make sure it's
collimated. I recently helped some newbies with their new 125 and
they were very disapointed about their choice. The image shift alone
was disgusting. Go with the dob and you won't be sorry.


"Chuck Taylor" wrote in message ...
"John Beaderstadt" wrote in message
...
I'm going to hate myself for asking this, I suppose, but should I
abandon my long-planned purchase of an XT-10 in favor of an ETX-125?
I've almost got the money saved for either one. On the face of it,
what appeals to me most about the Meade is the portability; with the
XT-10, though, with its lower price, I could afford some accessories.
The deciding factor, then, would be the scopes, themselves.

You may fire when ready.

Obviously the XT-10 will show a lot more. But tracking is nice, even if you
don't need goto. This is especially true for higher power viewing or
drawing.

I guess the biggest question would be: Because of its size/weight, would you
end up using the ETX a lot more?

If not, it would take a lot to give up all the aperture.

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/